


honey

by froglawyer



Category: Video Game Youtubers
Genre: Flirting, Friends to Lovers, I don't really ship them I just think they're neat, Inspired by Real Events, M/M, Oblivious, Online Relationship, Real Names Interchangeable With Online Personas, Will be adding tags as they come along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:14:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28210728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froglawyer/pseuds/froglawyer
Summary: 'It’s like honey’s dripping right into his brain, sweet and heavy as George laughs about something quietly through his phone speaker. It didn’t matter that George wasn’t talking about something he desperately wanted to know, Clay would’ve been content to sit and listen to him all night. He never knew that he could like somebody that much.'Clay and George have been friends online for years, have flirted for years, but always manage to dance around the elephant in the room. But, fortunately for them, feelings aren't avoidable forever.(Disclaimer: If any of the boys change their minds about how they feel about being in fanfictions, I'll delete immediately)
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	honey

**Author's Note:**

> First fic about Dream and George. I don't know why, I don't even ship them, but there was just an itch that I had to scratch by writing this fic. Leave a kudo and a comment if you enjoyed. If you are Dream or George reading this, why are you here in the first place? Love and kisses.

Clay wakes up sticky, sweat plastering his bangs to his forehead and his sheets are damp around his bare skin, like a lukewarm wet cuddle. It’s the worst kind of way to start the day. There had been a hurricane two days before, only a category one, but that’s enough to knock out his power if a line got hit. That means his AC was off, his PC couldn’t turn on, and he couldn’t make anything warm for breakfast. He hadn’t even set an alarm the night before, it was just so hot in his apartment that he couldn’t even sleep more than 4 hours. He loves Florida, he does, and he’s used to this kind of weather, but now that his career was completely focused around his online presence, it was starting to get under his skin.

Not ready to wake up, he rolls over and shoves his face in the pillow, but it just sort of smells like sweat and it doesn’t do much to comfort his tired brain. He hears his phone buzz and he flails out his hand blindly, smacking around his nightstand until he finds it. His head feels like it's filled with cotton balls, a sign of his recent sleep deprivation. Pushing himself onto his elbows, he unlocks his phone. It’s almost 11 AM, so at least he didn’t sleep in until after noon. George had called him around 4 AM to talk with him about some video idea, chatting over the phone until it had suddenly become 7 AM in Florida time and Clay had fallen asleep on the call. It wasn’t uncommon, one of them passing out on the other line after refusing that they were tired. George had texted him after he had fallen asleep, Sapnap had as well.

_ George: Does Florida really have alligators running around freely? Don’t they bite people?? _

_ 8:03 AM _

_ Nick: is ur power still out _

_ 10:58 AM _

He responds to Nick first, shooting out a simple yes, then he rereads George’s and snickers. He searches for context in past texts, but it looks like George had just sent it out of the blue after Clay had gone to sleep.

_ Clay: I found an alligator chilling in my friend’s pool once. He didn’t bite me though. _

_ 11:01 AM _

Although it’s a funny memory to share, Clay thinks about how terrified he was when he actually had found that alligator. He was young at the time, maybe 10 or 11. He had been watching his friend’s dog while they were on vacation, and when he went to let the dog into the backyard, he had seen what looked like a log floating in the pool. When he had gotten closer to investigate, it had rolled open one lazy eye to stare him down, and it had scared him so bad that he had made his mom come over to the house whenever he walked the dog for the rest of the week. Florida was complicated.

The bed might still be damp and unpleasant, but in the moment, it seemed better than standing up and starting his day. Hopefully they’d get the lines fixed by tonight.

“Mrow?”

This gets his attention, and he peeks an eye over his bed. Patches blinks up at him from the floor, and when he reaches down to pet her, she rubs her face on his hand and purrs.

“Hey, bud. You hungry?” He withdraws his hand and sighs, finally sliding out of bed. Patches rubs against his legs and prances out of the room, leading Clay to her food bowl.

His apartment isn’t small, but it’s not big either. His bones pop as he stretches while he walks, passing by the second bedroom that he converted into his office. Natural light glints from the glass patio doors that lead to his balcony, filtering into his kitchen. Outside it looks so sunny, it’s as though the hurricane never passed through, the only indication being the palm leaves scattered on the damp pavement. The sun is high in the sky, an hour off noon, and it blazes down with a sharp glint. Clay had been hoping that the hurricane would break the scorching hot weather they'd been having, but if anything, the humidity it caused made the heat even more suffocating. He rubs his neck as he retreats from the balcony's door, heading into the kitchen to meet his cat.

Patches chirps as he shakes some food into her bowl and he scratches her head affectionately. His phone buzzes in his pocket.

_ George: That’s so weird, I don’t think America is for me _

_ 11:19 AM _

Clay feels himself grin, and thinks about how to respond but his phone buzzes again.

_ George: Are you seriously not gonna be able to film the video tonight though? How long do power outages even last? I spent all last working on it :( _

_ 11:19 AM _

_ Clay: It depends on how fast they can fix the power lines. Sorry :/ _

_ 11:20 AM _

He sighs and locks his phone, feeling as annoyed as George seems to be with the situation. They were going to film a video where Minecraft rains mobs, and George had seemed so excited to try it, even though they were guaranteed to die pretty quickly into the game. He couldn’t think of a time where George wasn’t excited to try a new plug in, though. His enthusiasm for coding was something Clay had always respected in George, and it was always nice to have him in his corner whenever Clay wanted to try a new video idea but couldn't figure out how to articulate it into his programming. It could often be like that, Clay coming up with the ideas and George making them come to fruition.

Clays waits a moment for a response but doesn’t get one, so he putters around his kitchen, trying to find quick things to make without electricity. He has a carton of iced coffee that he quickly takes out of the fridge, making sure to not let too much cold escape. He snags a few chips from an open bag, and he can almost hear his mom scolding him from cities away for eating such a shitty breakfast. The thought makes him snicker.

He settles on his couch, absently sipping on his coffee and scrolling through social media, unlimited data pulling through for him. Patches jumps on the couch and tucks herself onto his lap, like a warm teddy bear. First, he feels his eyes begin to dry, taking longer and longer to open his eyes between blinks. Second, Patches starts purring loudly, rhythmically kneading at his chest with her paws. Before he knows it, he’s fallen back asleep, curled around her with his phone still open, playing the same video on repeat.

  
  
  
-

Clay jolts awake to a series of beeps echoing through his apartment, sitting up quickly as his appliances blink to life. He sits up quickly, Patches no longer on the couch with him, and he checks his phone. It’s almost 4 in the afternoon, and he has a series of missed texts from his friends.

“Ugh.” Clay swipes a hand over his face, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. At least his power is back.

Disgruntledly, he reads through his notifications and is surprised to see a missed call from George. Without thinking, he swipes on the notification and watches as it rings, George picking up halfway through the ring cycle.

“Hello?” George sounds like he’s on speaker, Clay can hear the clacking of his keyboard.

“Hey, sorry I just woke up.” Clay pulls himself into a sitting position.

“Oh.” He pauses for a moment. The following question sounds amused. “What time is it in Florida right now?”

Clay winces. “Four?”

“PM?”

“Yeah.”

George snickers on the other line and Clay feels a little more awake.

“I have good news, though!” Clay’s walking around his apartment now, resetting his oven and microwave times now that they’re back on.

“And what’s that?” Clay can tell George still wants to make fun of him for sleeping in so late, but he doesn’t.

“Powers back on! I can film if you still want to, were we putting this on my channel or yours?” Clay asks.

“Yours, I think. Why’d you sleep all day? Sapnap’s being annoying right now but he’s the only one I could do anything with.”

“Aw, did you really miss me that much?” Clay grins as he hears a sharp breath of annoyance, the tone he had used was practically a coo.

“You're insufferable,” George replies and immediately hangs up. Clay snorts and shakes his head, scrolling through Nick’s texts next.

_ Nick: george says ur not responding did u really fall back sleep _

_ 1:24 PM _

_ Nick: wake up u idiot _

_ 2:37 PM _

_ Clay: I am awake you idiot _

_ 4:06 PM _

_ Clay: Powers back on btw, discord after George and I film? Probably be done around 8 my time _

_ 4:07 PM _

He shoots out that last text and finds himself in his office, his PC setup staring him down. Showering would be a good idea, especially with his hot water back, but he had work to do and George was waiting for him. Clay deliberates for a few more seconds, but ultimately slides into his desk chair. Headphones tugged on and hands absentmindedly tapping at the table, he waits only for a few moments for the screen to boot up. The table rattles as his phone lights up.

_ Nick: ya 4 sure _

_ 4:10 PM _

Before he knows it, he’s on the call with George and his face feels tight from how much he’s laughing while they record. They play up the crazy parts of the video, screaming when they’re about to die and scream laughing when the other does something stupid. Most of it is just boring footage, though, as it takes forever for the mobs to actually become a problem for them. But his favorite parts happen in that boring footage that gets edited out, just simple conversations between friends while they wait for things to be filmable. 

“George, you literally had to have coded this wrong.”

“It’s fine, we just have to wait for bigger rains to happen.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Clay knows he can be an asshole sometimes, but George never takes it seriously, even less seriously when they’re filming a video and Clay is Dream and George is GeorgeNotFound. They’re used to each other. 

There’s silence for a moment as they fight off the few mobs that are actually falling. He’s only noticed a slight increase in the quantity of mob rain, but George knew more about the program than he did so he didn’t push it.

“Dream?” George’s voice was slightly quieter, so Clay immediately assumes it’s not about the video.

“Hm?”

“Have you been sleeping enough recently?” George sounds slightly concerned, and the question honestly surprises him.

“Uh, probably? I don’t know.” He thinks about the long hours awake with his friends, the juggling of time zones. How draining it can be. “I haven’t thought about it that much, I guess. Why do you ask?”

George’s face cam isn’t on, but he can see George shrugging like it’s right in front of him.

“Just thinking,” George responds, but Clay wants to know what he’s thinking about. So he asks.

“What’re you thinking about?”

A slight pause. It’s almost comical when George kills a zombie, breaking the silence.

“Maybe we could sync up with each other? We could fall asleep at the same time, wake up at the same time. Pretty much create our own time zone. It’d make filming so much easier.” The sentence coming out in one breath, as though George had been considering it for a while.

“Oh,” Clay considers it. “That’s actually pretty smart.”

Mobs suddenly pick up in speed, pouring around them at a steadier rate. The topic gets dropped until later, after filming, when Clay let's SapNap in on the idea. It had slipped out, with Clay high off of finishing a good video.

“Why didn’t we think of doing this before? You’re a literal genius, George!” Nick sounds excited over Discord, but George is uncharacteristically quiet.

“Mhm.” Is all George says in response.

“You good, man?” Clay asks. There’s a beat of pause, then a loud yawn from George.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” 

Clay remembers how early in the morning (late at night?) it must be in England, and how tired Clay had been the night before when for George, it had only been around 9 AM.

“I get that, at least that problem’s gonna be fixed soon.” George hums an assent back, and Clay figures that’s all he’s gonna get. Sapnap interjects to ask which time zone they’re gonna base their clocks on, and then to complain about how difficult it’s gonna be to adjust to the time change.

As they all begin to sync up their alarms, Clay wonders if George originally was going to tell Sapnap about the plan, or if it was only supposed to be him and Clay doing it. He tries not to think about it, but wonders if George had minded him sharing their time zone with Nick. If George had only meant it to be for him. It's a stupid thought, an anxious one, but for some reason it nags at him. Sometimes George would get annoyed with him for reasons he didn't understand, and he imagines sometimes does the same thing with George.

After they all hang up, it keeps Clay awake in his bed. George and him had a friendship like he didn’t have with anyone else, intense in a way that he hasn’t been able to get used to. Him and Nick had been friends for years, but it didn’t always feel the same as it did with George. Clay could talk to George for hours about absolutely nothing and it wouldn’t feel like a waste of time, and he has the call logs to prove it. Clay sometimes, in moments of vulnerability, wonders if George felt the same. 

Ultimately, the hum of his AC lulls him to sleep later that night, with Patches kneading the pillow next to him.


End file.
